Murray and Alex Are Sealed

Back in September, our nephew/cousin Murray was married to a lovely women named Alex.  They had a very small, immediate family only, ceremony in the backyard of the house where she grew up.  Naturally, we didn't attend.  But from the beginning, they planned on being sealed today, January 18th.

We drove to Idaho Falls yesterday and are staying in an Airbnb that James and Alisa rented.  We spent the evening visiting with family--Murray and Alex, who we got to meet for the first time (she's darling!!), Cory, Erika, and little (big!) Carter, James and Alisa, Lee and Cammie, David and Sharon, and Seth and Noelle (his fiance; we'll attend their wedding next month).  It is always so good to be with family we don't see regularly because we live far away.  It was fun to get to know Alex and Noelle, neither of whom we'd really had a chance to talk to before.  We stayed up late talking and watching The Chicaraffe, a silly animated program on Netflix that James got us watching.

This morning, we lounged around, then got ready to go to the temple.  We went to the reception venue to help do a bit of set up and discovered we should have gone over lots earlier.  There was some frantic hanging of decor, setting out of pictures, and food prep, but we did our bit.

Because we were all together, and Brandt and Blythe can't yet come to a sealing, we brought some family names and they went and did baptisms for the dead while we were in the sealing.  The sealing was very nice, and the baptisms were very nice, too.  The temple is closing today for several weeks, so it was very busy in the baptistry.  We got the children dressed and on the bench to wait, then returned to find them in the actual font area, but still not quite there.  We waited another 20 minutes or so, then Kent and I were witnesses as they were baptized.  It is a wonderful thing to be with your children in the temple, to see them worth to be in the Lord's house, and to feel the Spirit.  It is a joy to us that we can all be in the temple together.

We missed all the picture taking because of the baptistry wait, but took our own outside.  We returned to the venue for lunch and visiting.  Again, so fun to see family we don't see often.  We had a break for a bit, and returned to the house to watch more TV and play some games.  This evening, we returned to the venue for treats and talk.  Tomorrow we will join Cory and Erika and lots of Barri and Fredericksons for church and lunch, then drive home.  It has been a treat to celebrate Murray and Alex.

As a side note, it's Kent's birthday today, too. We've done really absolutely nothing to celebrate, but we will tomorrow or Monday, after we get back from Idaho.  Poor guy.  I hope he doesn't feel too bad.

It was COLD!!

Blythe made this Pic Collage of Murray and Alex

So cute!